Across the country, election officials are preparing for the possibility of federal intervention

This article on federal intervention in elections was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.

Each year, election officials prepare for the worst: A bomb threat at a polling place, power outages, natural disasters.

But this year, they are wrestling a potential threat they have never before considered: the possibility that the federal government might disrupt the administration of November’s elections.

It’s not clear what action, if any, the Trump administration may take to interfere with the 2026 midterms, but election officials from jurisdictions large and small are preparing for everything from immigration officers at the polls...